MEversbergII wrote:One advantage to the microwave is that your pyrex is automatically preheated for you.

M.

One bad thing about the mic for heating water, that microwave energy can suddenly be furiously unleashed upon unsuspecting tea leaves.

I remember thinking this was pretty cool when I saw it happen. I heated the water ... it really did not seem overly hot, then I placed the tea leaves in and it was like a feeding frenzy in the shark tank

Ah, where it sizzles like water in frying grease, almost. I've had that happen, typically when blanching pu. With microwave water, I microwave it in the pyrex measuring cup and then pour it into the (ideally pre-heated) pot.

After reading ‘The Hidden Messages in Water’ by Dr. Masaru Emoto, I gave my microwave away. In one study he photographs frozen ice crystals after being placed in a microwave and they come out deformed and fragmented. It seems the structure of the water molecules are torn apart and deformed when heated in the microwave. Since water molecules are bipolar, having positive and negative ends, as they heat up they rotate rapidly, at extremely high frequencies, in the alternating electric field of the microwave, leading to deformed water molecules.

Victoria I am not sure what you are trying to show. The reason microwaves work is they use that bipolar effect of water molecules to cause them to move (rotate, and vibrate) which is what causes the heat. So when you put in a water crystal, and microwave it, the motion generates heat causing the crystal to melt ( i.e look deformed and broken up). I have not seen any actual proof that the water molecules themselves are broken up. But then again water molecules naturally break up and re associate over time, this is somewhat linked to acidic vs basic solutions( are there more Hydrogen ions, or are there more OH ions).

victoria3 wrote:After reading ‘The Hidden Messages in Water’ by Dr. Masaru Emoto, I gave my microwave away. In one study he photographs frozen ice crystals after being placed in a microwave and they come out deformed and fragmented. It seems the structure of the water molecules are torn apart and deformed when heated in the microwave. Since water molecules are bipolar, having positive and negative ends, as they heat up they rotate rapidly, at extremely high frequencies, in the alternating electric field of the microwave, leading to deformed water molecules.

Dr.-Masaru-Emoto-Microwave-Crystal.jpg

Microwaves interact with the dipole of water. Water is H2O in its simplest form, (ignoring clusters) but the bonds are rather labile and can easily switch (check out proton channels for a cool bio example). It is not really a H-O-H specific to each molecule, they are constantly changing which H and O's are bonded in solution, especially at higher temperatures, thus the concept of pH and pKa. The bottom line is you are not chemically altering it and with crystal growth the smallest microscopic physical defects can lead to very different macroscopic crystal motifs. If you want to get technical about it heating water is actually irritating it in with the infra-red radiation leading to the same thing, hot water. With regards to irridation, hot water is a state it does not matter how you get there heating by flame or microwave.Admittedly I have not read the book, but I would hope that he would have developed a statistically significant sample since it is a simple experiment, as well as doing it in a cleanroom with purified water. The tiniest specks of dust wreak havoc on crystallizations, as I have found many times. I would love to discuss more but tried to keep it short and clear to avoid a flame war, but felt that the previous post needed to be addressed.Microwaves will definitely melt and recrystallize micro domains and alter the macroscopic appearance of the crystal, I would be surprised if they did not.Chip, feel free to leave or delete as you find appropriate.

brose & adam, I should have said he first used distilled water, placed it in a microwave, and then proceeded to freeze it, and then photographed the resulting frozen ice crystals. Dr Emoto’s web site explains his process. http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/how ... taken.html

For me, the bottom line is microwaved water tastes flat and lifeless. The crystal images in the book are beautiful and compelling. The science I understand is controversial. A large part of his study involved water and memory, as well as how water is receptive to human vibrations and intentionality. For me his study resonates as a work of art.